As an auto shop owner, securing a customer base that returns regularly is critical to your business and its future success. In fact, a 5% increase in customer retention amounts to a 25% increase in profits. Moreover, customer retention is significantly less expensive than customer acquisition.
Fostering long-term relationships with your current client base can save money while increasing your profits. A newsletter is a good place to start.
Keeps Your Business Top of Mind
As an auto shop, it’s hard to engage with people that are likely to use your service a few times per year (if they’re lucky). But by providing a newsletter, you’re able to engage with them beyond the sale. What’s important is that you provide valuable information. Think about things like:
- Explaining how to change a tire
- When to know it’s time to get new tires
- Tips for driving in the snow safely
- Checking your car oil and windshield wiper fluid
This helps to keep you top of mind, so if and when your services are needed, your auto shop is the first thing that comes to mind.
Provides Promotional Opportunities
Your newsletter should be filled with inside information about your shop, valuable how-to’s, industry news, and anything else that will make your subscribers feel part of the community. With that said, it also gives you the opportunity to discuss any upcoming deals or promotions you have.
Offering your customers exclusive access to promotional offers through your newsletter can have great benefits for your business. One study showed that 60% of customers view unexpected rewards as one of the main factors for staying loyal to a brand. In fact, the opposite can be detrimental with 54% of customers are willing to stop doing business with brands that don’t provide relevant coupons or engaging content. In this case, a newsletter is two-fold–a chance to engage with customers and provide special deals for them.
It Makes Your Business Personal
As a tire shop, you’re constantly working to develop your customers’ loyalty and trust. A newsletter can do just that, letting you provide a “one-on-one experience” on a mass scale.
In fact, personalized experiences are exactly what will win your customers over, 98% of marketing professionals believing that personalization strengthens customer relationships. You can start to make things more personal with fun features like:
- Management tips on the most effective way to use loyalty rewards points
- A “Get to Know Us” section where you interview different employees
- Have customers submit questions (similar to Dear Abby) and have your techs answer them in each issue
It’s Inexpensive Marketing
Email marketing, like a monthly newsletter, is an extremely inexpensive way to directly reach your target audience. It’s an opportunity to engage on a monthly basis. But, the process of sending a mass email can be complex. Luckily, there are a plethora of tools at your disposal. Here are a few options:
- Mailchimp: With Mailchimp’s service, your shop can send up to 12,000 emails per month and hold up to 2,000 subscribers for free.
- Campaign Monitor: Starting at $9 a month, you can create quality newsletters with drag-and-drop templates and customizable subscriptions. As an added feature, Campaign Monitor also includes an analytics tracker so that you can make the most out of your software along the journey.
- SendInBlue: With SendInBlue’s free plan, you can collect unlimited contacts and send up to 300 emails per day. Its interface makes technical ability accessible by breaking down the features into functions and editing tools.
Expand Your Marketing Without Breaking the Bank
Newsletters are a widely used method for businesses to foster relationships with their customers. However, they should just be one component of a much larger marketing effort–one that involves text marketing, online reviews, a loyalty program, reminders, etc. Each channel deserves dedicated attention from your team–a task that can quickly become overwhelming. So… automate.
BayIQ is a comprehensive marketing platform created for auto and tire shops. With a single automated and POS integrated software, your shop can access a rewards program, email and text marketing, appointment scheduler, online review soliciting, and reports and dashboards under one roof. Rather than having a well-rounded marketing strategy that also monopolizes your time, why not automate it and focus on what matters–your customers.
